Oikos: God's Big Word for a Small Planet

How you spend your time and money controls what happens on this planet . . . Planet Earth and its people are in danger. We face ongoing economic and ecological crises. These will deepen unless all of God's people begin to act as one global community. Natural resources are diminishing and the economic world order is changing. We cannot go on living as though we can call up another planet. Change is needed now and this book addresses that.   The biblical vision of the world as oikos, meaning household, is God's challenge to all people about the way we live now--and in the future. Oikos affirms the need for reconciliation and peace between faiths and nations and should determine our economic practices and how we care for the planet.   In this timely and challenging book is a renewed call to follow the Maker's instructions. Whether it is 9/11, Chernobyl, or the 2008 financial crash, that call for change is repeating itself. This book not only explains why we need to change but also provides practical advocacy of how you can help to achieve it. ""More than ever, the world today needs a liberation theology that liberates theology itself from the knots in which it has been tied by human history. In Oikos, Andrew Francis contributes to such an approach. He does so in a manner that is unusually well integrated across the triune fields of social, environmental, and religious life that constitute the 'eco,' or neighborhood, that is our human home."" --Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul and Poacher's Pilgrimage ""Andrew Francis challenges us to consider what it means to live authentically as members of God's beautiful household--loving every member of our extended family and caring for our precious dwelling place. He helps us envision a divinely inspired economy, ecology, and ecumeny. How can we find this pearl of great value? This book provides a map that shows the way. This is Andrew Francis's generous gift to us."" --Stuart Masters, Senior Programme Leader, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, UK Andrew Francis is a UK-based writer, poet, and community theologian who leads courses and retreats. A former artist, potter, and pastor, he speaks at conferences, festivals, and to congregations, and is a community gardener and joyful cook. He is the author of What in God's Name are You Eating? (2014) and Shalom: the Jesus Manifesto (2016).